Ten key takeaways from Davos 2024

Davos 2024

January 21, 2024Despite seemingly endless geopolitical and economic uncertainty, global
business leaders are coming away from Davos cautiously optimistic about 2024. While
challenges and surprises remain inevitable, opportunities abound. This was a common
theme at the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), where delegates
from global business, government, civil society, media, and academia convened to focus
on the fundamental principles driving trust. Read on for 10 key takeaways from this year’s
meeting, the largest in WEF’s history—and register now to join senior partners Tracy
Francis and Sven Smit on Tuesday, January 23 at 12:30 PM ET / 18:30 CET, as they discuss
their experiences at Davos and reflect on key actions for global leaders.

1. Speed is crucial to outperformance. Compared with peers in slow-moving

companies, leaders in fast-moving organizations report 2.1 times higher
operational resilience, 2.5 times higher financial performance, 3.0 times higher
growth, and 4.8 times higher innovation.

Read: All change: The new era of perpetual organizational upheaval

2. Cooperation is multifaceted and can coexist with competition. Leaders can

practice “coopetition”—balancing cooperation and competition—to advance
shared interests in specific areas, despite lack of alignment elsewhere.

Read: The Global Cooperation Barometer 2024

3. The generative AI revolution is only just beginning. Gen AI is poised to transform

roles and boost performance across functions such as sales and marketing,
customer operations, and software development. In the process, it could unlock
trillions of dollars in value across sectors from banking to life sciences.

Read: The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier

4. Sustainability is a business imperative. Navigating the net-zero economy has

become more complicated over the past 12 months, but companies that take
courageous action can accelerate value creation and reposition themselves ahead
of competitors.

Read: Full throttle on net zero: Creating value in the face of uncertainty
 5. Better women’s health is correlated with economic prosperity. Investments
addressing the women’s health gap could add years to life and life to years—and
potentially boost the global economy by $1 trillion annually by 2040.

Read: Closing the women’s health gap: A $1 trillion opportunity to improve lives
and economies

6. A comprehensive approach to transformation is most effective. Four essential

elements for transformation success—will, skill, rigor, and scope—could give
leaders a better chance at outpacing the competition in a time of constant
disruption and change.

Read: How to gain and sustain a competitive edge through transformation

7. Business leaders need to focus on matching top talent to the highest-value

roles. In many organizations, between 20 and 30 percent of critical roles aren’t
filled by the most appropriate people. Skills-based hiring could help organizations
access new talent pools.

Read: Right skills, right person, right role

8. The best CEOs leave organizations in a better place than they found
them. Complacency is a common challenge for chief executives, but it doesn’t have
to be. Top-performing CEOs create truly distinctive value.

Read: The CEO Journey: A collection of content to master the CEO role

9. Performance and diversity are not mutually exclusive. At a time when companies
are under extraordinary pressure to maintain financial performance while
navigating a rapidly changing business landscape, the business case for diversity
not only holds, but grows.

Read: Diversity matters even more: The case for holistic impact

10. Don’t overlook India’s potential. India is transforming rapidly as one of the fastest
growing large economies in the world. When it comes to technology, talent,
healthcare, and other areas, its future in 2024—and beyond—is worth paying
attention to.

Read: India Ahead

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